1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of athletic training devices, and particularly to devices useful for enhanced stress and hand feel training for swimmers, and training devices with reduced stress and pressure on the swimmers hands.
2. Background of the Art
Athletic training attempts to accentuate and target both memory and strength in specific muscles used in particular sports. Swimming is a sport that is well-regarded with respect to its use of most of the muscles in the human body, and in requiring skilled use, positioning and strength in the use of those muscles.
Particularly with respect to the multiple arm positions and movements used in swimming among the four strokes (backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle), any training device must allow the user controlled muscle stress, hand feel, and freedom of hand movement, avoiding any structural interactions between the device and the body of the swimmers that cause damage or injury.
Fins have long been used, often improperly, putting stress on ankles and knees. Hand paddles have also been used for years, and with the various styles of paddles, it has been difficult to balance appropriate levels of resistance to enhance strength training, hand feel in the water, stability on the swimmer's hands, and absence of abrasive or cutting effects on hands and wrists.
Among the different structures used for hand paddles are the following.
Published US Patent Application Documents No. 20150196807 (Davis) relates to swimming paddles used for strength training in fitness swimming and performance swimming. A swimming paddle comprises an oversized paddle body having top and bottom surfaces, proximal and distal sides, and lateral and medial sides, the paddle body having a hand placement portion for placing a hand thereon. The swimming paddle further comprises a hand securing portion configured to secure a hand to the paddle body. A portion of a side of the paddle body is scalloped (having a wavy pattern). It is asserted that by scaling its unique flow and temperature phenomena in water to that of air, the humpback whale's pectoral fin has inspired biomimicry for various industrial applications, such as the development of large scale scalloped or tubercle-lined blades as shown in FIG. 2d
Published US Patent Application Document No. 20150056878 (Watchorn) relates to a hand paddle system comprising a wrist member and a hand member. The wrist member and hand member are intercoupled. The wrist and hand members are configured to releasably couple or receive the scaphoid and metacarpal regions of a user's hand. The hand paddle system is composed and/or configured to be buoyant. The hand paddle system may also include a finger member coupled to the hand member opposite of the wrist member. The system causes an increased water entry resistance when the user improperly orients their arm and/or wrist leading up to and at the catch point and the buoyancy facilitates an early, high elbow catch and pull.
Published US Patent Application Document No. 20080242167 (Bolster) describes an aquatic propulsion device for holding a hand or foot in a desired position, the device comprising a curvilinear support surface and a linking element arranged across the hand or foot joint at a desired angle to secure the joint in the desired position.
Published US Patent Application Document No. 20040009458 (Topolski) describes a swim stroke trainer apparatus and method that includes providing a forearm paddle adapted to be connected to a swimmer's forearm to promote a downward motion of the hand and forearm and a bicep/tricep float adapted to be connected with a swimmer's upper arm to promote an elevated elbow.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,080 (Dilger) describes a substantially flat, oval-shaped swim paddle for use on a swimmer's hand having two halves connected by a flexible hinge. The anterior half has ridges defining finger indexes for placement of the swimmer's fingers. The posterior half has a centrally located raised palm portion which, when in use, fits comfortably within the hollow area of the swimmer's palm. Velcro® type fasteners secure the paddle to the swimmer's hand. Texturing on the hand side of the paddle, the finger indexes and the raised palm portion allow the swimmer to more easily control the paddle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,254 (Elson) describes a swimmer's hand paddle comprised of a planar member having a perpendicularly depending fin. The paddle's planar member is bilaterally symmetrical and generally triangular. It has a textured upper surface, a rounded forward apex, a pair of divergent opposing side edges and an inwardly-curved rearward edge. A rearward projection is defined on each side of the planar member between the outer end of the rearward edge and the rearward end of the adjacent side edge. The fin is generally triangular and depends from the planar member's lower surface. Its narrower end is disposed adjacent the planar member's forward apex and its wider end is disposed adjacent the planar member's rearward edge. Opposing ends of a length of resilient tubing pass through a pair of adjacent apertures in planar member, thereby forming a loop which projects above the plane of the upper surface and is adapted to receive and bind a swimmer's middle finger to the planar member.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,036 (Hull) discloses a pull paddle for swim training which includes a paddle having a leading edge and a trailing edge and a longitudinal centerline extending from the leading edge to the trailing edge. The paddle is tapered so that the leading edge is substantially narrower than the trailing edge. The paddle has a relief in the trailing edge defining a wrist detent. The paddle has a center of force no more than 1½ inches from the wrist detent along the longitudinal center line and includes structure for selectively gripping the paddle.